Last month roughly 102 million people watched the Super Bowl and 23.6 million tuned in to see the glamour, gowns and winners of the Oscars. Town and Country put out it’s February 2020 edition with the 3rd Annual Jewelry Awards and after the first two events I thought, who is this really reaching, and should the Jewelry Industry think about a different strategy to reach consumers?
I’ve done a more detailed analysis on the last two awards issues here and here last year. This time I’m going to ask some bigger questions that might get you thinking about how you want to market your company. Let’s first look at how Town and Country presented the awards this year.
Town and Country Jewelry Awards
The small mention of the Jewelry Awards on the cover (it gets smaller every year), had the statement: The right way to spend your money. The first thought I had was investment pieces, but the pages showed off jewels that lacked a proper description of why you should spend for these jewels. I was also hoping for more on future designers but only about a quarter of a page with 4 designers sharing the small spotlight making it feel more like a passing thought.
The Editor’s Letter talked about the Dresden Green diamond that was not part of the crown jewels of Saxony that were stolen on November 25. The diamond was loaned to The Metropolitan Museum for the current exhibit, Making Marvels. The editor talked about how the exhibit embodies the, ‘link between technological innovation and social prestige.’ The hope was that the awards would also show some innovative designs. The pieces were nice but if no one really knows what goes into it or how valuable the materials are then there is not much prestige or social admiration for the wearer. Jewelry is a more of personal object but if you didn’t want others to see it you wouldn’t wear it.
Overall, I don’t think the issue did that great of a job educating the reading and putting a proper spotlight on the designer. The issue could have really show cased the process and the person behind the designs. With more people looking to lab diamonds for their engagement rings, show that these designers are responsibly sourcing materials and labor would be a plus in helping diminish the bad reputation the Jewelry Industry gets on mining.
Demographics of different Medias
Looking at other places to advertise the Superbowl 2019 saw 98.2 million viewers 39.95 were between the ages of 18-49. The 2020 age demographics are not in yet, but we can look at this as about 40% of viewers are between 18-49. The Oscars only had 23.6 million viewers and saw a major drop in there 2020 viewership for 18-49-year olds, in 2019 the viewership was 29.6 million. Looking at Town & Country’s media kit, their readership is 638,000 and the median age is 49.7, skewing two-thirds (66%) female.
Why the Jewelry Industry needs to think inside the box
Depending on what you are selling and who you hope to attract, being in Town & Country if you sell jewelry might be great for you but for the industry not so much. The Oscars are still good for exposure but with drops in viewership and the controversy it can bring it doesn’t allow for controlling your brand as much if you are a designer. The emphasis on reaching younger consumers the Jewelry Industry needs to look at ways to get people talking more positively about jewelry and thinking of it more than just a one-off item you buy for marriage. So why not have a Super bowl ad? I know cost is an issue but there are other alternatives; YouTube ads that you need the audience’s opinion on, create a social media campaign that puts couples in the ad or something else that gets people excited! The focus needs to be how to make jewelry a part of the wearer’s life so the over used response of, ‘It’s beautiful but where would I wear it’ comes less into play.
How I can help
If you are looking for ways to reach your audience and need help in seeing how effective it was then please look me up on Instagram and reach out to me. As a business analyst with several years of Retail Industry experience the questions of how to improve reach affect all sizes of businesses. Let me know your thoughts or questions below and thank you for reading Data in the Rough!